A new addition
by beccarebecca
Summary: Tom/Nikki pairing, following the changing lives of Tom and Nikki after Nikki discovers she is pregnant. this is my first fic, it might be rubbish! please rate and review etc, it would be much appreciated. (rated T just in case)
1. the discovery

**A.N- this is my first fic guys, I love tom/nikki and I'm currently off school as I have finished all of my exams (yay) I need to do something mentally stimulating otherwise daytime tv will rot my brain.**

**Tom/Nikki **

Nikki lay awake with the churning feeling in her stomach that had become familiar over the past couple of weeks. She had initially dismissed it as stress, probably just the of the weeks of exams at this time of year beginning to get to her, especially as there was a lot of pressure for the PRU kids to achieve their target grades.

She looked over to Tom, who was still fast asleep; he always hogged the duvet so that whenever she woke up her legs were always exposed to a draught. She took a deep breath in, she couldn't be, could she? She was only a couple of days late, and they'd been careful, well, not as careful as they could have been…

She shot a glance over at the clock on her bedside stand, 4.24am. Sighing, she rummaged as quietly as she could around in her drawer, she had bought a pregnancy test that morning, convenient. She pushed back the duvet and crept along the landing careful not to wake tom or josh.

The bathroom floor was cold on her feet and worse still when her bare flesh touched the seat of the toilet, she felt nauseous as she watched the little circle on the pregnancy test, what would she do? How would she tell Tom? How would Josh react? How would her colleagues react? Was she really ready for this level of commitment? It was fine, maybe she wasn't even pregnant, why was she worrying about something that might not even happen?

'Come on Boston, you're stronger than this' she told herself.

She didn't even have to wait the full 3 minutes; she could already see a second pink line forming before her eyes. A wave of nausea consumed her and she vomited, possibly from shock or possibly as a result of her still swirling stomach, she gasped for air and sat on the bathroom floor, staring up at the light.


	2. the morning after

A.N this is a bit of a fluff and doesn't really contribute to the plot, im still trying to get to grips with using the website and I don't really plan what im going to write so this is just something that spilled from my brain after I finished work..

Nikki was already sat at the table when Tom came downstairs. He had his shirt half buttoned up and his tie hung loosely around his neck, as for his bottom half, just a pair of boxer shorts.

'morning love' he said, planting a kiss firmly on Nikki's head and wrapping his arms around her shoulders pulling her in to an embrace.

'Morning' she replied, returning the embrace, taking in his scent.

'Did I put my trousers on to wash? I can't find them' Tom pawed through the washing in search of his trousers 'Nik?'

Nikki looked distant as though she wasn't really concentrating on her porridge which she was now just pushing round the bowl

'What? Oh I think they're in the dryer'.

'Oh, found them, cheers love' Tom fished his trousers out of the tumble dryer and smiled at his girlfriend, there was something not quite right about her this morning. 'Nik, are you ok?'

'I', Nikki considered her answer, 'I'm fine, just didn't sleep very well'

'Nikki, you don't need to keep worrying about exam week, your kids will do great, you're a brilliant teacher and everyone knows it' he cupped her face in his hands pushing back the loose strands of her brunette locks and rubbing his nose on hers. 'Shouldn't you be getting dressed?'

'Yeah I'll come up in a minute love' said Nikki who was still wearing Tom's dressing gown.

'Ok' Tom trudged back upstairs with his trousers slung over his shoulder; apparently no one had heard of an iron in the Clarkson household.

Nikki clasped her hands over her stomach,

'There goes the father of my child' she thought to herself.


	3. the invitation

3. The invitation

Tom and Nikki strode into the staffroom together ready for their staff briefing. Nikki followed closely behind Tom, although it was common knowledge that they were a couple they both knew that it was important to uphold a professional working attitude and so didn't publically display their affection for each other, the last thing they wanted was malicious rumours spreading around.

Tom headed over to the small kitchen area and began making himself a cup of coffee, whilst Nikki took a seat and got out her copy of 'The God of Small Things'. Tom had been amazed that she hadn't already read it, exclaiming 'it's a literary gem!' he was teaching it to his year 12 A-level class and so insisted that Nikki read it to.

As reluctant as she had initially been she was quite enjoying the novel. She appreciated how beautifully written the story was, despite confusing the non chronological storyline. However today Nikki was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her mind occupied on the book…

Nikki looked up from her book and saw tom chatting to Michael over a cup of coffee, she smiled weakly just as Christine came over and occupied the seat opposite her.

Not that Nikki disliked Christine but Nikki disliked Christine, she tried to be polite but she just found her blonde colleague so irritating almost smug, although she had never held her alcoholism against her, Nikki jus wasn't a fan of Christine Mulgrew.

'Morning', Christine chirruped as she sat down 'Ooooh God of small things? The bit when Velutha dies just gets me every time'. Her voice pierced Nikki's skin and she knew Christine had given the plot away on purpose; Nikki huffed and closed the book.

'Hi' she replied barely looking at the other woman.

Tom stirred the coffee he had made for himself and was skimming the sports section of 'the times' as the rest of the teachers filed in, Grantly Budgen plonked himself down on his usual perch and got out 'the racing post' Tom shook his head, some things never change.

'Morning Tom' Michael was wearing his usual suit and carrying various files and bits of paper, he was a picture of professionalism.

'alright' tom replied looking up from his paper.

'Hey, me and Christine are barbequing on Friday night, do you and Nikki want to join us? Connor and Imogen will be there, you could bring Josh? How's he doing, is the medication working?'

'yeah he's getting there thanks, er, barbeque right, yeah thanks, I'll just have to clear it with Nik, I reckon it'll be fine'

'Great, well, if you come over about 6?'

'yeah'

Tom looked over at his girlfriend who was looking intensely displeased at Christine's attempt at conversation. It could be fun, he thought to himself.


	4. sweet nothings

4. sweet nothings

A.N- Josh is in year 13, Connor and Imogen are in Year 12..

Thankyou to all those who reviewed etc, its nice because I was never very good at creative writing I always think its like handing a teacher I little bit of your soul and im not ready to be judged in that way by someone I have to see every day, therefore I always choose to do analytical essays in literature, hence the 'god of small things' references which I would highly recommend.

Friday came quicker than Nikki and Tom had realised 'Do we really have to go?' Nikki moaned as Tom buttoned his shirt up, he thought it would be courteous to put on a different shirt and a different pair of jeans to those he had worn for work.

'we're going' he said

'I'm not sure if I can stand it, if I can stand her, she'll be all nicey nicey welcome to my humble abode' Nikki mimicked Christine's broad Scottish accent which made Tom smile 'can we not just spin them a tale about how tired we are or one of us is ill or-'

Tom turned to the beautiful woman sat on the bed, a smile flickered across his face leaving one corner of his mouth turned up, and one eyebrow arched. She caught his mood immediately and her eyes widened as wild grin spread across her face.

He laid her flat on the bed looking down at her body. He began to undo the buttons on her blouse. He undid the top two, not quite enough to reveal her bra and caressed her ivory silk skin. She moaned and held him close as their fingers became entangled in each others hair. He kissed her neck, being careful not to leave any marks; she felt his breath in her ear.

'We're going' he whispered pulling away from her leaving her sprawled on the bed.

'Ugh' she growled as she got up and started rooting through her clothes looking for something to wear, something not too…figure hugging.

'I think I might just pop to the shop, we should take a bottle of wine or something' Suggested Tom, 'I'll take josh'.

'Wait, how about a nice dessert hmm? I'll pretend I made it'

Tom laughed 'some how I don't think anyone would fall for that, good idea though, I hadn't thought, Christine's maybe still off alcohol do you think?'

'I'd play it safe and get a cheesecake love' she had never been so glad that Christine was a recovering alcoholic, how else would she get round not having a drink, that would get tongues wagging and give the game away for sure.

'Ok' he said finally before calling to Josh who was dressed in a checked shirt similar to Tom's and a pair of beige chino trousers. 'Are you ready, I thought we'd just nip to the shop, you can choose the dessert'

'Yeah sure' replied josh pulling on some shoes 'Bye Nikki'.

'See you in a bit' she smiled and watched them out of the house.

She pulled up her vest and examined her stomach in front of the mirror, she wasn't showing yet, her stomach was still flat and toned. She ran her hands over and over trying to feel for any changes in her body. Nothing yet.

With a sigh she picked out a summer dress, nothing too revealing, knee length, and a pair of sandals seeing as it was sunny.

What with not being able to drink and all, she was in for a long night.


	5. the barbeque

**A.N- so after tonight's episode I did feel slightly guilty about jumping on the Christine hate wagon (no spoilers here) so I might do a slight plot twist later on where Nikki learns to appreciate her, thoughts? Thanks again to all those who favourited and reviewed! Also I don't feel I'm great a dialogue it can feel a bit tedious as some of the more exiting things are happening inside their heads rather than being spoken? Let me know that you think. **

5. The barbeque.

The family of three stood on the doorstep, behind Tom's back josh pulled a face at Nikki as his father knocked on the door with the cheesecake he had chosen in his hands, carefully cradling it like a baby. Nikki smiled at Josh and pulled an unenthusiastic face back.

A smiling Christine answered the door and gestured them to come in. she pressed a kiss on both of toms cheeks.

'Hi Tom, come in, come in, oooh cheesecake lovely! Michael's out the back he's getting the barbeque sorted'

Nikki was next over the threshold and received an awkward kiss on the cheek.

'Hi Nikki, you look lovely'

'Thank you' said Nikki patting her dress down she wasn't too sure how to take a compliment off someone she disliked, but she decided for Tom's sake to be as pleasant as was physically possible for her.

Josh avoided the cheek kissing and hand shaking as Connor had heard the fuss from downstairs and called his friend up stairs to come and look at some English coursework he and Imogen had been working on, Josh had studied their books the previous year so Connor had wondered if Josh could shed any light on the mystery of Tennyson's 'The lotos-eaters'. He nodded politely at Christine as he wiped his feet on the door mat and made his way upstairs leaving Nikki still stood in the hallway.

'Come through, come through', ugh why was she saying things twice, Christine ushered her through into the kitchen where she had laid out a colourful array of salads to accompany their barbequed food.

'Wow, Christine, you've excelled yourself' said Nikki, genuinely surprised at the amount of effort she had gone to, she remembered the bought cheesecake and suddenly felt a tinge of guilt.

'Is there anything I can do? To help I mean? You look to have a lot on the go' asked Nikki.

'No, no I think everything is just about under control' Christine got two wine glasses down out of the cupboard and began to fill them with wine, 'is white ok?'

Nikki froze 'yep, that's great' she gingerly took the glass of wine and peered into the bottom of it.

Christine smiled at the other woman taking a gulp of her own drink, and proceeding to take two beers out of the fridge that she took outside to Tom and Michael. Whilst Christine had momentarily stepped outside to provide the men with light refreshments, Nikki spotted a wilting pot plant, hesitating for a only second she poured a sizable amount of wine into the pot (to pour it all out would be slightly obvious now wouldn't it) 'sorry' she whispered.

The seven of them were all cosily seated around the garden furniture; Nikki sat next to Tom who was talking loudly about football scores with Michael. On her other side Imogen was clinging on to Connor's arm whilst he and Josh were discussing this week's episode of 'game of thrones' Nikki listened intently to both conversations whilst tucking into her plate of food (which in Christine's defence was delicious)

'Nikki, are you ready for a top up' asked Christine, not waiting for a reply but filling Nikki's glass once again.

Not for the first time tonight she smiled awkwardly at the blonde.

Tom noticed his girlfriend wasn't behaving like her usual self,

'You alright love?' he asked with an air of mild concern.

'Yeah fine' she answered quickly, 'Christine, do you mind if I just use your bathroom?'

'Of course not, make yourself at home and all that'

'Thank you' and with that Nikki left the table.

Once she got into the kitchen she let out a sigh of relief and moved over to the sink where she emptied her glass of wine.

'Nikki?' Christine's voice came from behind her, Nikki was sure the gasp she let out when she realised that Christine had seen was audible. 'What are you-? Are you?, you're pregnant!'

Nikki just stood there, wine glass still in hand; it was as much as she could do to hold on to it.

'I.. No..I just.. I mean' she sighed it was out, 'Christine, please don't say anything i-'

'Ohh, Tom doesn't know yet does he' said Christine knowingly, 'don't have kittens Nikki, you're little secret is safe with me' she tapped her nose and walked back out into the garden. Somehow Nikki didn't trust her slurred promise, she would have to tell Tom in case something was let slip, and she didn't want him to find out like that. She was going to tell him. Tonight.

The rest of the evening went without any hitches but Nikki was glad when she was snuggled up in bed next to Tom. She rested her head on his shoulder listening to his breathing as he flicked though his copy of 'God of small things' making a few notes with a pencil as he read. She nuzzled his shoulder, they were so peaceful.

'Tom' she said finally.

He turned to her, 'yes love', his lips brushing her forehead so that his nose rested in her hair; he loved the smell of her shampoo. She pulled away.

'Tom im pregnant' she said, and for a moment she wasn't sure whether she had actually said anything, she searched Tom's face for any signs of a reaction 'Tom?'

'How long have you-'

'since Monday' she replied.

He smiled at her, meeting her eyes. 'why did you feel you had to keep that from me? Its fantastic' he said pulling Nikki close.

'I just, I couldn't be sure I was actually, you know, and tonight Christine saw me, I was pouring my wine down the sink, she figured it out, I didn't want her to tell you'

Tom chuckled, 'you weren't missing out, the wine was rank'

'Tom, will you tell Josh'

'Yeah'

They both fell silent, they felt there was nothing more to say although both their minds were buzzing. They lay in each other's arms and slept until morning.


	6. Telling Josh

**A.N a reasonably short one, I realistically could have followed it on with some other bits but I thought it should be separate and other bits will come later **** also my chapter names aren't very imaginative. (sorrynotsorry) *weeping***

6. Telling Josh

Tom wandered into the kitchen on Saturday morning having been planning their father/son talk all night. He had left his sleeping beauty sleeping and came downstairs to tell Josh their news. It was nerve racking, part of him now understood why Nikki had kept it from him for almost a week.

Josh was finishing of his bowl of cornflakes; he was a teenage boy so it had been a large bowl of cornflakes, for a family of three they got through so much cereal.

'Morning dad' said Josh between mouthfuls.

'Morning'

'I'm off out with Lauren and Finn this morning, we were going to go to the cinema to see the new iron man film, is that ok?'

'yeah, yeah, fine' said Tom, contemplating his next sentence, 'josh, mate' tom started as josh got up and started rinsing his bowl, 'sit down', Josh turned ronud to face his father, puzzled, he sat back down.

'What is it dad? Have you killed someone?'

Tom smiled 'Nah mate, Its.. Its Nikki, she's having a baby'

'What? Now?' Gasped josh, mocking his father's choice of words.

'What, no, I mean-' started tom before realising Josh was joking, he had been so nervous wondering how Josh was going to react what with all they'd been through lately with the schizophrenia.

'Congrats dad, really, im off now, I said I'd meet them in town' Josh picked up his bag and pulled on his shoes. Tom stood up from his seat and followed his son into the hallway.

'Thanks son, it's a big surprise for all of us, a nice surprise' he added hastily 'anyway just don't say anything to anyone yet, just until we know everything's ok'

'Sure Dad, bye'. Josh left the house closing the door behind him leaving tom standing in the hallway.

'bye' he said too the apparently to the door.

Outside, Josh walked into town with a huge grin on his face. He liked Nikki, seeing her as a close friend after the whole drugs incident, she understood him and listened to him as well as being his father's girlfriend, Josh was considering the possibility of having a 'normal' family.


	7. tiny hands, tiny feet

7. tiny hands, tiny feet.

'So the appointment is at 4, straight after school, out and in the car ok? We don't want to be late' Nikki reminded tom for the 3rd time that morning, as she spoke she pointed the car keys at him, emphasising her words.

Tom put his hands around her waist, and pulled her close silencing her with a kiss.

'I wouldn't miss it for the world' he told her moving his hand across her abdomen.

She smiled but he could tell she was nervous; what if there was something wrong?

She turned away from him and made her way out to the car feeling Tom's comforting hand on her shoulder.

Nikki had thought of anything else all day other than the little life she was supporting, the day had been a blur, she vaguely recalled Barry Barry making a few sarcastic comments, nothing out of the ordinary. Now she was sat next to Tom in the hospital waiting room. It was humid which emphasised the smell of hospital which would linger in their nostrils long after they had left. The walls were white and there was nothing really attractive or eye catching other than the unintentionally passive aggressive posters that were hung around the waiting room. Tom rubbed Nikki's thigh reassuringly but the human contact brought her out of the trance, causing her to jump slightly.

'Nikki Boston?' the receptionist spoke her name softly and Nikki nodded, her stomach swirling with nerves and excitement, about to see their child for the very first time. She followed the nurse down the corridor to the small room. Tom gripped her hand tightly, he hadn't shown it before now but she was beginning to see that he was just as nervous as she was.

Nikki lay down on the bed and lifted her shirt revealing the slight curvature that came with being 12 weeks pregnant. Tom edged closer to her watching as the cold Jelly was squeezed on to her stomach. She winced Tom assumed at the temperature; she wasn't expecting it to be as cold as it was.

After what seemed like a lifetime the nurse was satisfied with what she saw she turned the screen round to face the parents-to-be. It was then that Tom realised that he had barely breathed since Nikki lay down; he let out a sigh of relief once again placing his hand in hers as they looked at their baby. The features were quite clear despite only being at this early stage. Nikki was transfixed, her eyes glued to the picture on the screen, the tiny hands and feet. He glanced towards her, a single tear rolled down her cheek yet when she turned to him she was beaming.

The nurse handed over a photo of the scan, Nikki finally removed her hand from Tom's grasp and gripped hold of the scan with both hands staring at it for a few moments. He watched her absorbedly although he couldn't tell what she was thinking. Tom leant over her and pushed her hair back behind her ears to keep it out of her face and kissed her softly on the lips before pulling her into a hug and kissing the top of her head.

'I do love you Nikki Boston'.


	8. Any more announcements?

**AN. I'm not great at plot so the next few chapters might be a bit weird/tenuous so here are some spoilers, Nikki and Tom need t tell Nikki's parents but they will tell their colleagues first because stuff needs to happen/lines need to be said. I find this weird because usually you would tell your parents before your 'work mates'. Wouldn't you? Am I over thinking this? Does anyone read these notes? Any way, here goes. (probably a short one).**

Nikki and Tom sat in the staffroom on Monday morning listening to the staff announcements about the following week: orchestra was cancelled because of staff absence, the year 9 trip to Edinburgh was on Wednesday. However neither of them were paying much attention, both their minds were occupied on their own announcement. Tom was almost on the edge of his seat, until he felt Nikki's hand brush his, although it was a subtle move; it seemed put him at ease slightly.

'Any more staff announcements?' enquired Michael looking round at his staff then back to Lorraine who was already re-packing her handbag.

Tom spluttered, as though he had forgotten how to speak, all eyes turned to him.

'Yeah, Tom' Michael gestured him to speak.

'Actually' he said, looking at Nikki, 'we just wanted to say that..well-' Nikki could see him struggling for the right words.

'we', Nikki started, putting particular emphasis on the word we, 'are expecting a baby'.

There was a silence, a pregnant pause if you like, in that the silence itself was expectant…

'well, we're _expecting _a baby but It_ could _be a chicken' said Tom trying to find light relief in Nikki's words.

'Congratulations to you both!' said Michael finally and on his approval the rest of the staffroom burst into applause.

On his way out of the staffroom Tom was met by Chalky.

'Hey, hey, so are you gonna make an honest woman of her then?' he teased slapping Tom on the back.

'what?'

'You know, marriage and that'.

'Oh right, erm, I dunno, we.. we haven't really talked about it'.

'see you later' said chalky upon hearing the bell that marked the start of first lesson.

In truth the thought had crossed Tom's mind he looked back at his girlfriend, who was caught in conversation with Audrey Mcfall, before making his way to his own class.


	9. an honest woman

**AN: does anyone read these notes? I hope you're still enjoying this, this is more than I wrote for my English coursework jeez! Anyway I feel this one may be a bit dire as it has literally come straight from my head. (sorry). Also I can't help feeling that some of my northern-ness is slightly rubbing off on how they speak? **

9. An honest woman.

Tom sat at his desk in front of his year 8 English class, teaching similes and metaphors. 'a simile', he had explained 'is when something is _as_ or _like_ another thing, where as a metaphor is when a writer writes about something as though it is another thing'.

The students were now in groups coming up with their own similes and metaphor. Meanwhile tom opened the top drawer of his desk and reached right to the back. He took out the small box and rolled it around in his hands. Thinking carefully about what he was going to do with it. The ring inside was modest, he knew Nikki wouldn't want anything too flashy, that wasn't her style. It was a simple gold band with three diamonds, 2 smaller ones and one bigger one in the middle. He had bought it weeks ago, before he even knew Nikki was pregnant, he couldn't have risked the possibility of rejection back then, the prospect of a child had brought them closer for sure.

It was lunch time and josh was sitting in the canteen with Lauren and Finn, they were discussing the day's gossip that was by now all around the school, 'Miss Boston's pregnant and Mr Clarkson is the dad'. Josh didn't mind too much, but when Barry Barry's unmistakable scouse accent bellowed from the back of the canteen, Josh did feel slightly embarrassed by the whole thing, 'Woah, don't you have to have sex to get pregnant?! Your dad and Boston, that's nasty!' Josh stood up to retaliate, but Lauren pushed him back down.

'Do one Barry Barry' she used his full name accentuating the ridiculousness as well as flicking him a rude hand gesture for good measure.

'nice one' remarked josh as Lauren sat back down.

'nah, he needs taking down a peg or two, anyway this is too exiting, a baby!' she squeaked.

'yeah its cool that they're happy' Finn chimed in.

Josh felt his pocket vibrate, he took out his phone, _'1 message-Dad'_ the screen read, josh opened it. _'Come 2 my room now'_ for an English teacher, Tom was lazy when it came to texting. Josh wondered what could be so important for his father to text him during school? Couldn't it wait for home?

'guys I'm just off to meet my dad, he wants to see me apparently so I'll see you in history yeah?'

Lauren and Finn nodded as josh made his way out of the canteen and started up the stairs to the English classrooms. When he got to Tom's room he found him perched on the edge of his desk, expectant of Josh's arrival. Josh took a perch on one of the front row desks waiting for his dad to speak.

'Hey, you wanted to see me? What's this about?'

'yeah, I um, I just wanted your opinion, I mean you don't have to say anything but I was thinking of asking Nikki to marry me' Tom spoke slowly and calmly, waiting for Josh's reaction.

'Are you serious?!' Josh beamed, 'Dad that's amazing, when are you going to ask her?'

Almost taken aback by his son's reaction, tom replied 'Oh, Im not sure yet..I want to ask her as soon as possible, It has to be a bit romantic though doesn't it?'

'Dad you're asking her to marry you, isn't that romantic enough?'

Tom nodded, sometimes he thought Josh understood more about relationships and women than he did himself. 'I dunno.. I suppose'.

'You should ask her tonight' suggested josh. 'cook a nice dinner or something, spag bol?'

Tom could sense a plan coming together, 'I like your thinking Joshie boy! I made her spag bol on our first night in, that's settled!'

Josh left his delighted father, who still couldn't quite believe his own son's reaction, and made his way to history where he kept Tom's secret.

The couple trudged through the door upon arriving home, Josh had beaten them and was already playing x-box in the lounge. Tom and Nikki threw off their coats and shoes and dumped their bags at the door before collapsing on sofa after a long day. Nikki nestled her face into Tom's shirt. He put his arm around her and looked down at her face, gazing lovingly into her eyes. Their eyes met, they were almost the same shade of blue however their moment was cut short by Josh.

'I'm still here y'know' he chimed in.

'Sorry, right what's for tea? I'll cook' said Tom although he already knew what he was going too cook.

'Ooooh, im not sure what I fancy' Nikki contemplated her options but josh interjected

'How about spag bol?' he said with a smirk and a glint in his eye.

Tom smiled back, 'Good call Josh'.

'Yeah ok' agreed Nikki.

Tom made his way into the kitchen, looked at the ring and began to chop some onions for his bolognese'.

Josh decided to take his tea up to his room, making the excuse that he had 'so much coursework to do' He winked at his father who had caught on to his thinking and agreed'.

Tom and Nikki sat at the table and chatted about their day that had started with the big announcement.

'God, their faces', Laughed Tom.

'I know, replied Nikki as she recounted her conversation with Audrey, 'she was saying I should be careful what I eat because babies develop a taste for what their mother ate whilst they were in the womb or something, so I should eat healthily to prevent our baby becoming obese, I couldn't get away! I was 10 minutes late for my first class!'

'Oh well, at least baby will know a good spag bol when he has one' chuckled tom

'He? That's a bit presumptuous don't you think?'

'yeah I suppose it was, sorry'

'This is a pretty good spag bol though'.

When they had finished eating Nikki cleared the plates and put them in the dishwasher. Then sat back down to finish her drink, Tom had bought shloer, the non-alcoholic wine, she appreciated the gesture but it was barely palatable.

Tom took Nikki's hand and kissed it, this was it. He put the little box on the table. Without him even having to open it she knew. When he revealed the ring inside she began to cry.

'Hey' he said soothingly 'what you doing that for?'

'I don't know, maybe its my hormones, sorry, I just.. You caught me off guard, I love you'

'so will you marry me then'

'yeah'

He pulled her up out of her seat and slid the ring gently on to her finger before kissing her hand again and drawing her into a tight cuddle.

'I suppose I should have asked your parents, y'know, for your hand in marriage and all that' he said after a moment of silence where they just appreciated each other's touch.

'Bit late for that now isn't it, I'd better ring them anyway, they should probably know about this' she gestured to her stomach.

'Invite them over for dinner, might as well kill two birds with one stone'

'Hmmm, I don't know Tom, its going to take more than a spag bol to win over my mother, no offence' she added

'None taken' said Tom and he pulled his fiancé back into his arms.


	10. Meet the Bostons

**A.N just to let you all know, I'm back at school tomorrow so the updates might not be as regular.. but I WILL TRY. (Also Rachel is not Rachel mason do not panic, she is my own character).**

10. Meet the Bostons.

Tom was leaning against the sink with a cup of tea watching Nikki slave over a pan on the hob. She looked so frustrated, cooking was something she had never been any good at, where as every other aspect of life she could turn her hand to.

'Why doesn't this look like the picture!' she shouted.

tom laughed he did find it amusing that there was something she couldn't do, 'Nik, it looks fine'.

'What if they say no? to us getting married I mean' she turned to him she was clearly nervous, her outfit told him that, she was wearing a knee length blue dress, with those nude coloured tights that tom didn't really understand the point of because they were just the same colour as her legs anyway, it was an outfit that Nikki would never wear of her own accord, it was obviously something she thought her mother would approve of.

'What? Why would they?'.

'No, I mean just suppose the do say no' she persisted.

'well, I'd whisk you off to.. I dunno.. Australia and marry you anyway, its just tradition isn't it, asking your parents. We're getting married, with or without their permission'.

Her face softened at his reply 'you, Mr Clarkson, are a big softie'

She returned to her pan of whatever it was, tom left the kitchen, he thought that after seeing her outfit, he had better get changed.

'Tom wait' he stopped him, 'is ready to cook salmon cheating?' she asked opening the fridge where there were 5 pieces of fish ready marinated in boxes from Tesco.

'nah, they wont tell the difference' tom reassured her, having been told that this woman had to come on this particular Saturday because she was judging cakes for the women's institute next Saturday, he was pretty sure that in fact she would notice, but he wasn't going to tell Nikki that.

At 11.30 (prompt) the doorbell rang and Nikki's eyes filled with terror. Tom held his hand up to halt her,

'I'll get it love'

'Tom, why are you wearing a tie? Wait, never mind'

He pulled back the door and saw an aloof looking woman, her brunette hair, like Nikki's, was pushed back off her face and she was wearing a pearl necklace and a beige coloured cardigan over a pastel pink knee length dress. She arched an eyebrow at Tom and pursed her lips, her eyes were almost piercing as she looked down her nose at him, in fairness, she was quite tall, not unlike his fiancé.

He looked around Nikki's mother and saw a dumpy little man, Nikki's father; he had a comb over and was wearing a tank top…

'Hi, come in' he said, 'I'm Tom Clarkson, finally meet you can I get you-' he was cut off by Nikki's mother thrusting her jacket at him

'Heather Boston' she said sharply 'and a cup of tea would be lovely, I'm absolutely parched, you know it's a long journey, you do live so far away, it is rather inconvenient'.

'Right, tea' nodded Tom, trying to find somewhere to hang Heather's jacket, eventually the hung it on the stairs banister before greeting her father.

'Hello, I'm peter' he said quietly although his handshake was quite vigorous 'Lovely to meet you' he spotted Nikki in the kitchen.

'hello darling' he waved through to her.

'Dad, hi!' she beamed at her father and left her cooking to come and hug him.

She then popped her head around the living room door; Tom decided to leave Nikki with her parents whilst he made some tea.

'Mum, how are you?'

'I'm fine dear' she said, not really looking at Nikki, instead she was flicking through Tom's copy of 'The Kite Runner' that he had left on the table, 'just slightly parched after the ride down, has that man of yours gone to make tea'

'Yeah I think he's-'

'Good, don't mumble dear'

Nikki sighed; she would rather barbeque with Christine Mulgrew any day.

The five of them sat around the table (josh had smelled food which had coaxed him out of his room). Heather had pushed her food around her plate and occasionally took a dainty mouthful, this made Tom seethe inside, but he stayed quiet.

'You know, Nikki's sister, Rachel, is a lawyer. We're ever so proud, she's just been given a position in one of the top firms in London' Nikki rolled her eyes. Here we go, she thought.

'shall I take your plates? Mum, are you done?' Nikki asked, noticing the amount of food still left on her mother's plate.

'yes dear, the fish was slightly dry', Tom bit his tongue and carried on listening to heather talk about how Rachel was going to the Maldives for a fortnight.

Nikki was slamming the plates into the dishwasher when tom came through carrying empty glasses. He noticed her eyes were puffy.

'Nik? You ok?' he asked tenderly, putting the glasses to one side so he had a spare hand to rub her face.

'yeah, fine, can we just tell them, get this over with' her voice was thick. Tom could tell she'd been crying.

'yeah lets, and love, the fish was great, don't listen to her'

'No its not that, well it is, but bloody Rachel, she's so flaming perfect!'

'mmm, I love you' she succumbed to his words as he grabbed her waist (carefully given her condition) and kissed her on the lips.

When Tom and Nikki were sat back at the table they exchanged glances, it was Tom who spoke first, 'so I was wondering, we were wondering, I mean I just wanted to ask for your permission to marry Nikki'. His voice was shy and tentative, which made Nikki smile.

'Good Lord! We thought no one would ever ask, she's not a conventional beauty! We even began to thing she was you know, on the other team, it didn't help when she joined the army'

'Mrs Boston, I'm in love with your daughter and I don't think you should speak about her that way'. Heather looked at Tom in complete shock.

'Tom, its fine' Nikki interjected.

Her sentence was stopped by peter, 'I thought you were going to shay she was pregnant' he chortled.

For the second time Tom and Nikki exchanged glances, this time unsure of how to carry on. Josh sniggered which caused Heather to immediately grasp what was going on. She took a seep breath in and pursed her lips again, she looked almost 'professor mcgonagall-esque' which made Nikki cringe, she wanted to vomit but she caught Tom's eye and he nodded at her which seemed to make everything better.

'Mum I-'

'How long Nicola?' tom had never heard anyone use her first name.

'About eighteen weeks, I-'she didn't know hoe to finish the sentence, she was defeated.

Heather nodded her face looked as though she had just eaten something horribly sour, like a slice of lemon. Which was made worse when Peter decided to join the conversation that he unintentionally started,

'Well I think its fantastic news, congratulations'

'Peter! Do not undermine me!' heather hissed.

'No, heather, I think you're being unreasonable, its lovely that they're happy and that they're adding to what is already a strong family', Peter gestured at Josh, acknowledging that Tom already had a child, 'that's all we ever wanted for her Heather, she's happy, she's healthy and at least she's not getting shot at anymore'. Tom could suddenly see where Nikki got her bravery from, he already saw that her stubbornness came from her mother.

Heather sighed, she knew her husband was right, she had just expected more of Nikki, her eldest daughter. 'Congratulations dear' she said quietly.

Nikki sniffed, her father's speech had touched her, she hadn't expected it 'Thank you' she replied. And that was that.

**P.s You may see more of Nikki's parents in this fic (you may even meet the illusive Rachel) however it is more likely to be in the sequel that I have just dreamt up whilst writing this chapter..**


	11. chippy tea

**A.N- I've done so much research into this pregnancy lark to make this fic as tasteful as possible, if my mother checked my internet history she would get a nasty shock! And its all for your benefit!**

11. Chippy tea.

Tom and Nikki savoured their evenings after work cuddled up together on the sofa watching crappy soaps. Still with mixed emotions from Heather and peter's visit, the soon to be wed couple had decided to wait until after the baby was born to be married. Nikki's reasoning for this was because she didn't want to be pregnant in her wedding dress. He had never known her to be fussed about her looks, although he supposed her wedding, the most important day of her life was slightly different, although he told her she would always look beautiful.

'I don't want to waddle down the bloody aisle' she huffed, running her hands over her ever swelling abdomen; she was coming up to the twenty week mark now.

'Okay okay!' he said holding his hands up.

'Sorry, I just, I don't want to rush it.. it should be special'.

'I know love, I know these things matter to you, I understand, I just forget, I mean I'd marry you right now in jeans and a t-shirt'. The sincerity of his words made Nikki blush like a school girl, she smiled,

'Mr Clarkson you romantic old thing!' she teased stretching her legs out over his lap, 'Please will you rub my feet' she pouted, being pregnant meant that she could get away with almost anything.

It was his turn to tease, 'I dunno, Nik, you're pushing it with that one' but he obliged anyway.

Just then the door clicked open, it was Josh.

'Hey' she shouted through.

'Hey' Nikki and Tom chorused back.

'Lauren and Finn are here, is that ok? Can we have tea? We're starving'.

Nikki looked at tom, silently giving her approval.

'Yeah, why not, we haven't eaten yet either, what do you fancy?' asked Tom.

'Can we just get a takeaway dad?'

'Chippy tea?' Tom suggested.

'Good call Mr C', Finn clearly approved, tom rolled his eyes, how many times had he told them to call him Tom outside of school.

He left his fiancé and tramped through to the kitchen to get a pad and pen.

'Right, what's everyone having? I'm having fish and chips' he said, writing down his own order, he knew from experience that this made it easier when trying to remember what everyone wanted than having an awkward convoluted phone conversation when talking to the poor person behind the counter in the chippy.

'Chips, cheese and gravy' said josh.

'Same' agreed Finn

'And me please' Lauren finally settled on having the same as the boys.

Tom turned to Nikki who was still looking perplexed by the decision she was having to make, he loved it that she almost purred when she was thinking, slightly awkward when they ate out in restaurants though.

'Can I have' she started, ' large chips, cheese and gravy right? And a battered jumbo sausage'

Tom hesitated before he wrote down her order, josh raised his eyebrows, she noticed his reactions and gave him the Nikki Boston death stare, one that the three teenagers had only seen used on delinquents such as Barry Barry.

'What?' said Nikki.

Tom put his jacket on and armed with his list he departed. No sooner had the door clicked shut, Nikki gasped which startled josh and his friends given the fact that she was pregnant, for a second they thought there was something wrong. She jumped up and ran for the door.

'Tom' she yelled, waving her arms frantically, there was almost panic in her voice.

He wheeled round, concern evident on his face, 'what's the matter love?'

'will you get me a pickled egg?'

He rolled his eyes once more, 'yeah' he said smiling at her as he closed the gate behind him.


	12. A friend in need

**A.N sorry for the late update, education gets in the way of so many things!**

12. A friend in need.

Tom pulled the car up in the car park, he didn't get out immediately, he turned and looked at Nikki,

'Another day another dollar hey?'

'Yeah' she groaned. She had been up all night, their baby was turning out to be a live wire, and on top of all the kicking and fidgeting she had to put up with, she was finding herself needing to pee every hour or so. Her twenty week scan seemed to have been ages ago, in fact it was only a few weeks ago. They had decided that they didn't want to know the baby's gender, they would prefer a surprise.

Nikki did not want to be at work today, a sleep deprived teacher was never a good thing, 'if one kid puts so much as one toe out of line today then god help them', she thought.

Lost in their thoughts, the pair gazed at each other before exchanging kisses and getting out of the car, the school yard was a buzzing hive of activity as they made their way across to the double doors. After a quick cuppa in the staffroom they parted ways.

Nikki strode in to the PRU, she must have looked like death warmed up. Rhiannon Salt was the first to make a remark 'Woah miss, heavy night was it' she said sarcastically.

Nikki stopped, so did the laughter. 'Right', she snapped, 'all of you! Out on the yard doing laps!'

The class groaned and reluctantly got up then one by one began to trudge out the door. scout threw a scrumpled up piece of paper at Rhiannon, begrudging the fact that she had brought this punishment on them all.

'NOW', Nikki barked, she hadn't meant to be so crabby but she could barely understand her hormones herself let alone to a bunch of students. Nikki grabbed on to the edge of the table, she suddenly felt dizzy, her head spun, she couldn't see properly. She closed her eyes and opened them again, everything was back to normal. After shaking off the slightly vomity feeling, she followed the PRU kids outside to supervise their running.

A little before lunch Nikki's students were all sat in silence practicing writing essays for their forthcoming English tests. Nikki was sitting at scout's desk with her talking through her last essay.

'its good scout, but the key is to go in to detail, the examiners are looking for analysis and interpretation'

'I know miss but i just can't write any more, I feel as though I've written everything but its not enough'

'so you follow the PEE method I taught you, point, evidence, expand. That way you'll be able to say everything you need to and in sufficient depth' Nikki said.

Scout began talking about another section of the essay but Nikki couldn't hear her, she closed her eyes and massaged her temples but her head was swirling.

'Miss?'

'I'm fine scout.. I.. I' Nikki stood up there was a glass of water on her desk she just needed a drink, some of the students had picked up on the kerfuffle and had looked up from their work. She staggered over to the desk but the dizziness overcame her and in front of her eyes all she saw was white. Nikki collapsed on the floor. Scout ran over to her teacher, through all the misunderstandings they had had, Nikki had helped scout realise her potential, she showed genuine concern towards the older woman.

'Miss? Miss Boston?' Scout bent down and gently shook her but she was unresponsive.

'Someone go and get help' Rhiannon cried, visibly distressed.

'Scout ran as fast as she could out of the door, away from the PRU with the intention of fetching Mr Clarkson. She ran down stairs and corridors all the while thinking of her pregnant, unconscious teacher who she had recently began to think of as a friend. Just then she saw Mrs Mulgrew coming out of the photocopying room with a stack of papers, she would do.

'Miss!' scout shrieked

'what on earth do you think you're playing at Miss Allen?'

'Miss you've got to come quick' scout gasped for air, she was panicking now 'its miss Boston, she's collapsed'

Christine deposited her papers on the stairs (ignoring the fact that it was probably a health and safety risk) she followed scout quickly, took out her phone and dialled 999.

'Yes ambulance please.. To waterloo road' scout could just about follow the conversation she was having with the operator 'no, its my colleague, she's pregnant and she's collapsed'.

When Christine reached the PRU the kids were crowding around Nikki, waiting for her to come round. Christine pushed through them, still on the phone to the operator.

'yes she's breathing'. Christine said calmly. Scout sighed, a sigh of relief. Breathing was good right?

'Oi you lot!' she shouted to her class mates 'Sit down and get on with your work'.

'As if you actually want to be a teacher' Rhiannon teased.

By the time the ambulance had arrived Tom was at his fiancé's side. They put Nikki on a stretcher and took her out to the ambulance where the PRU kids gathered to see their teacher being taken away.

'Thanks Christine, you were great', said tom touching Christine's shoulder.

'ahh, anyone would have done it' she said modestly. Scout ran up to Tom,

'Is she going to be ok? Will she be back before the exam?' she was almost in tears.

'She'll be fine' said Tom reassuringly 'I can't say when she'll be back, but when I know, you'll know'. He went in the ambulance with her and held her hand all the way to the hospital where they were parted and Nikki was whisked down the corridor and through the set of double doors. Leaving Tom standing in the waiting room. Helpless.


	13. its going all to be fine

**A****N: today I chose a name for Tom and Nikki's baby **** apologies that the updates will become less regular now I'm back at school! The next chance I'll get to update is probably Friday. **

13. Every little thing is going to be alright.

Nikki's eyes fluttered open, the first thing she saw was white, and funnily enough it was also the last thing she remembered. The white she saw now was the ceiling of the hospital room. As she acclimatised to her surroundings she realised that she was wearing a backless hospital gown and had a tag around her wrist, she stroked her bump with her other hand and then noticed that her hand was in fact hooked up to a drip. She panicked, lifting her arms and looking around to see where all the wires and tubes went, her head stung, and when she reached up to touch the source of the pain she felt her stitches, all 8 of them.

'Nik?, Nikki?' she heard Tom's voice, he spoke softly and laid his hand oh her arm in an attempt to clam her.

'Tom, I.. What happened? What… Is…How.' Nikki wasn't sure which question to ask first. Tom's hands were on her shoulders, she wasn't sure what he was about to say. Nikki felt a lump in her throat and panicky tears stung her eyes as clutched her tummy.

'Tom?'

'Oh Nikki, you had us all worried! The doctor said you've just got low iron levels, so you're just a bit anaemic, that's what made you feel dizzy then when you fell you must have hit your head, they've patched you up though'

'Tom what about the baby?' her voice was thickening.

'Hey, its ok love, baby's just fine'.

Nikki felt her breath come back into her body and now the tears flowed freely as she clasped her stomach. Tom sat on the edge of her bed and pulled her in, which was a little awkward and uncomfortable as the hospital bed was no where near big enough for both of them, but she didn't mind, she welcomed physical intimacy. Nikki wanted to be back in her own bed,

'When can we go home?' she muttered into his shoulder.

'Nik, you had a bad fall' he said, trying to make her realise that she needed to rest 'I think they want to keep you in over night..'

She sighed, 'can I not just stay in bed'

'I don't think it's quite the same love, I'll ring Josh to let him know you're ok'. He pulled away from her and took this phone out of his pocket, as they sat in silence Nikki could hear Josh's phone ringing on the other end of the line. He picked up.

'Hiya Josh..yeah….Im just ringing to let you know that Nikki's come round, she's fine…Yeah…She's just a bit anaemic that's all….well they're keeping her in over night, you could come down for a couple of hours if you like?.. Ok…Yeah that's fine…see you then'.

He turned back to her, 'you don't mind if Josh comes down do you?'

'No, not at all, it'd be great to see him'.

An hour or so later, josh arrived at the hospital he came tentatively in to the room obviously being put off by the sight of the usually strong Nikki Boston who was now lying in a hospital bed, her face was ghostly white against her dark hair the contrast was made more vivid by the red of her blood which corrupted her ivory skin.

Josh plonked himself down in the chair next to his father,

'hey' Nikki said, she was genuinely pleased to see Josh.

'hiya, you ok then?' asked Josh.

'meh, I'll be alright'she said calmly, the last thing Josh needed was to be worrying about her, especially in the final stages of his school life, he had modular exams coming up.

'cool', he said. He didn't really know what to say to her, he was glad she was ok but a heart to heart with Nikki was always awkward when tom was in the vicinity.

'Do you fancy a cuppa?' tom said, trying to break the monotony of the conversation. 'there's a machine down the hall'

'Oooh yes please love'

'yeah, cheers dad', and with that Tom left the room.

'Nikki, I'm glad you're ok', he could finally speak his mind, doing so was much easier with her than with his father 'I was dead worried about you'. Nikki smiled at him.

'Im always ok Josh, you can't get rid of me that easily'. It was Josh's turn to smile.

'Im glad you and dad and getting married' he said suddenly, it had just came out, 'I mean.. it'll be nice y'know, being a family and that'.

'yeah, it will' she said thinking about what Josh had said, she was proud of him and how far he'd come this year, how far they'd all come. She didn't know it yet but she loved him like a son. He took her hand and held it. she looked at her hand in his and beamed.


	14. back to class

**AN oh my god, the past couple of days I've came up with some great ideas for fics (well I'll let you be the judge of whether or not they're great) but I WILL finish this one first, there wont be THAT many more chapters.**

14. Back to class

Josh trudged downstairs with sleep still in his eyes and his tie carelessly slung around his neck, his shirt was done up wrong and he hadn't combed his hair, he only had a few weeks left at school now until his exams were over and he was to be let out in the big wide world. However with each passing day he grew steadily more tired and more irritable, the late nights of revision were starting to get to him. Nikki constantly worried about him, particularly his mental health; all this pressure couldn't be good for him surely. Was she being too over protective? Oh god! What would she be like with her own baby? After this week she wouldn't be able to keep as much of an eye on him at school as she was off on maternity leave, she made a mental note to voice her concerns to Tom.

'Morning you!' she said brightly and Josh sloped into the kitchen he just grunted, 'D'you want some toast?' she asked, nodding to the slice she was buttering.

'Yeah go on then' he replied. Nikki sighed, living with his dad must be hard for Josh, as Tom and his son didn't really do affection. No matter how big and manly you are, everyone loves a cuddle she thought; even after her years in the army there was nothing Nikki liked more than a cuddle.

'Come here' she said

'what?'

'Come here' she said again this time gesturing for Josh to get up. Her came over to where she was standing but before he could pick up his toast she had pulled him into a tight hug, which was becoming harder and harder for her given the size of her bump now a days... Nikki almost rocked josh back and forth and for a moment he just stood there wondering what the best response to her blatant display of affection would be. Awkwardly he put his arms around her and savoured the hug. She planted a kiss on his forehead, a motherly kiss; she blamed it on her hormones.

'Josh, you need to calm down love' he almost winced when she said love, not from pain or embarrassment, he was happy about it he would be proud to call Nikki Boston his mother.

'I do worry about you' she said before ruffling his hair.

He smiled and picked up his bit of toast,

'Nikki?' she looked up, 'can I have jam on this?'

'I reckon you can get your own jam Josh, you're a grown lad now'.

At that moment Tom came through in to the kitchen and put himself some toast on. Unusually he was fully dressed, tie and all..

'morning gang!' he said cheerfully.

Nikki and Josh just looked at him, had he really just said gang?

'Remember love we've got ante-natal class tonight'

'Sorry what?' replied Nikki

'its been in the diary for weeks Nik, its tonight'

'Tom I really cannot be bothered to go tonight..'

'D'you not think its kind of important to be prepared for these things?'

His speech was cut short by Nikki, 'if you mention my pelvic floor I swear to god I will ram that piece of toast so far up your arse you'll be able to taste it'.

Tom sighed, 'I just think it would be useful if we went'.

Nikki rolled her eyes, 'right, ok, whatever' she said, raising her hands in defeat.

The three of them grabbed their bags and left the house on time.

That evening Tom and Nikki wandered (Nikki rather reluctantly) into the clinic for their class, as they walked down the dark corridors Nikki said rather suggestively, 'can we not just skip class and meet behind the bike sheds?'

Tom turned to his fiancé 'Nikki Boston, you minx!'

'Come on Tom, women have been giving birth for millions of years, I think I'll be fine'

Tom pointed at a door 'this is it, come on'. Nikki groaned as tom pushed the door open. It was like opening a door to a strange new world, They both stood in the doorway as the twenty or so expectant mothers and fathers turned and looked disapprovingly at them.

Some women were balanced on yoga balls where as others were bent into strange positions supported by their partners, Tom turned to look at Nikki before the woman who appeared to be running the class spoke, she was a small plump lady and although she looked kindly, there was no where else that Nikki would less rather be.

'Hello, come in, you are a bit late but we're just getting started if you want to join us, we're trying to locate our pelvic floors'. Nikki looked at Tom and realised he looked just about as bewildered as she did. He turned to her.

'Nope' he choked.

'Sorry wrong room' said Nikki quickly.

Tom pulled the door closed again, and they both walked swiftly out of the building, 'You know what love, you're right, I think you'll be absolutely fine'.

Nikki smiled; ante-natal class was not a place either of them wanted to go again.


	15. trying it on

**AN- I understand that this chapter is awful… the next one will be better.. I hope, but I'll let you judge that! **

15. Trying it on.

Nikki's body woke her at 6am as it always did, although today she didn't need to be awake. Today was her first day of her maternity leave. She rolled over and looked at Tom who was still sleeping, the alarm wouldn't go off for another 15 minutes and Tom was usually to coax out of bed regardless. He was not usually a morning man. Nikki watched him for a while, the rise and fall of his chest, the flutter of his eyelids as he slept. She savoured this moment of bliss, their baby was due in less than a month.. Not that it wouldn't be blissful having a baby to wake up to, but it would be different. Just as Nikki was beginning to doze off again Tom wrapped his arms around her and started kissing her neck, he pulled her closer,

'Morning love' he said. She knew exactly what he was trying to do, she let him have his way for a while. He started running his hands up and down her body before planting staccato kisses over her milky white skin. She wouldn't pretend she didn't enjoy it, Nikki loved the way their bodies fitted together like spoons, the feel of his rough lips and three-day-stubble on her body, soft in comparison.

Tom held Nikki's arms above her head and looked down at her, smiling into her blue orbs. He kissed her lips before moving down to her neck, sucking the skin slightly.

'Tom', she said between kisses 'Tom!' he stopped and looked at her again, he wore a puzzled expression 'I'm sorry love but I cannot physically have sex with you right now' she told him, as much as he was trying to look understanding she thought that his ego might be a bit damaged. 'its not that I don't want to, really Tom but-' she sighed and ran her hand over her swollen abdomen as Tom let go of her hand and pulled her close again 'not long now' she reassured him.

'Its fine, I guess I was pushing it a bit.. anyway what have you got planned for today?' he asked, kissing her cheek.

'well, I though I'd lounge in bed until lunch time, maybe make a sandwich, d'you think watching Jeremy Kyle will have a negative effect on baby's IQ?'

'almost definitely'.

They both giggled before falling silent, just looking at each other.

'so are you nervous then? Or exited or?' one of Tom's hands caressed Nikki's cheek, she smiled softly.

'a bit nervous I suppose, I dunno.. Excited definitely, I can't wait to meet her'.

'Or him' added Tom, 'I reckon we're getting a boy, I can just feel it'.

'Time will tell' said Nikki raising an eyebrow.

'Right I'm going in the shower, are you staying in bed then?' he threw back the duvet an got out of bed before removing his t-shirt to reveal a torso that was not quite as toned as it used to be. She lay in bed, eyes half open; watching Tom undress. He had locked himself in the bathroom, Nikki heard the shower start to run and soon realised that she wouldn't be getting back to sleep any time soon especially not now she had heard Josh bumbling around in the room down the hall. She had sound that pregnancy had made her senses more acute, everything was amplified. Occasionally this could work to her advantage, hearing across classrooms and such like; but now, when she wanted to go to sleep, everything was just all the more irritating.

Nikki sat up in bed and scanned the room, perhaps she would start a new book, she pulled her self out from under the duvet and sorted through Tom's pile of books, they had never bothered to get a bookcase, and instead there were just odd towers of books around the house. She tossed aside the parenting books, 'your guide to pregnancy' and such like, in search of a real novel. 'Harry Potter'? She'd read that far too many times, despite her all that people thought about her, how hard she was, she secretly loved Harry Potter, and had wept for hours whilst reading the final book. 'A thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini? That could be potentially soul destroying, in her current state she decided that she was probably not emotionally strong enough to read anything like that. Eventually she picked up 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley, it was a battered old copy, the binding was starting to come apart at the bottom a little, not surprising really as it was probably a copy that Tom had had since he was at school. I do love a good gothic horror, she thought to herself before pulling on her dressing gown and getting back into bed, propping herself up with various cushions and pillows.

The sound of running water stopped and Tom appeared in the bedroom door looking rather flustered, 'Nik, have you seen my tie? Any tie?'.

'yeah, I decided you should keep them all in one drawer rather than on different hangers so they're all in with your socks'

'you're a star love'. He leaned over the bed and kissed her on the forehead.

As Nikki watched the car move out of the drive, Josh waved at her from the passenger seat, she felt as though there was nowhere else she would rather be that waterloo road and all of a sudden she wanted to go with them. Instead she stroked her stomach again 'Just you and me today baby'. She whispered.


	16. DIY Or with a little help

**AN- I'm writing a new fic! I'm writing a new fic! Im so excited about it!**

16. DIY.. or with a little help.

Tom bustled through the door after having been at B&Q. In each hand he carried a large tin of cream paint. Josh followed suit armed with wall stickers and paint rollers. They were of course for the Baby's room which would have a theme of farmyard animals, nothing to gender specific, given that they didn't know the baby's gender… Of course the room should have been decorated weeks ago but both Tom and Nikki were notorious procrastinators, yet with their baby's imminent arrival they thought it might be an idea to start making the necessary preparations. So while Tom and Josh had been out shopping for paint and such like, Nikki had been attempting to put together the cot, and in her defence had done a fair job but had a few screws left over…they couldn't have been that important she had thought.

She was slightly taken aback by the sheer volume of paint that her fiancé carried with him.

'This looks like its going to be a bigger job than I thought' she said, putting her hands on her hips, assessing the situation.

'Yep, the guy in the shop said we'd definitely need this much and it should have at least 2 coats'.. Tom lugged the tins of paint upstairs and set them down on the carpet in the baby's room.

'The cot looks great love!', neither of them were particularly good at DIY so he was genuinely impressed by her efforts.

'Yeah, I thought so too, and I only had three screws left over'.

'ah they cant have been that important anyway!' tom reassured her.

'Yeah you say that now but then when you put the baby in it and it collapses… It'll be a whole different story' warned Josh sarcastically.

Nikki had chosen to ignore josh's comment, 'Tom we're not going to have time to put 2 coats of paint on it, God! We should have done this weeks ago!'

'Nik, its fine' tom spoke soothingly and out his hands on her shoulders. 'we'll just move the crib into our room'.

'I could ring Lauren and Finn, they could come and help out if you wanted' Josh interjected to try and calm Nikki, yet she still looked doubtful. It was Tom who answered,

'That's a great idea Josh! Many hands and all that, I reckon we'll be done by tonight'. Josh left the room to call his friends while Tom pulled Nikki into a hug, 'it'll be fine love, we'll have this place looking great, maybe we should put some lunch on for everyone? We're probably going to be here all day'. He ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her softly on the cheek before bending down to decant the paint into the tray.

'TOM!' she yelled, causing him to jump about a foot into the air and keep the paint from going everywhere, 'what's the matter love, whatshappening' he said quickly the panic evident on his face.

'Is the paint non-toxic?' she looked deeply into his eyes for an answer.

'Um yeah, I..i think so' he said reading the writing on the tin.

'good, that's all, I didn't want the baby to be getting high of paint fumes' and with that she left the room, leaving tom still crouched on the floor slightly bewildered.

Later that day, Tom, Josh, Finn and Lauren were hard at work rolling paint onto the walls. They had actually managed to get a fair bit done; the first coat of paint was nearly dry. 'Im starved', moaned Josh, and as if on cue, Nikki came in with a large plate of sandwiches and a bowl of crisps. She had been making curtains from a stencil in a magazine, no one had wanted to say anything but they didn't look anything like the picture.

'Tom said you were going to be here for a while so I thought I'd bring some lunch up'

'cheers miss', said Finn, putting down his paint roller and taking a sandwich.

Nikki tutted, 'how many times have I told you to call me Nikki outside of school!'

All five of them sat on the floor enjoying the sandwiches and chatting about school and coursework and of course the leaver's prom! Which Lauren in particular was especially excited about and was giving Nikki all the details of the dress she had bought. However their conversation was a little broken up as Nikki had to keep shouting at Josh, who was dangerously close to getting crisp crumbs on her lovely curtains which were still laid out on the floor waiting to be sewn.

When every last morsel was finished, Nikki took the plates back downstairs to be washed, and everyone else picked up their paint rollers again as tom has said that the walls were dry enough to move on to the second coat of paint.

Finn watched Josh quietly, stealthily. He swapped his roller for a brush and got as much paint on it as it would hold, he waited for Josh to be deeply immersed in what he was doing before flicking all the paint in his direction. He hadn't waited long enough, Josh had seen it coming, he ducked, the paint flew over his head. Silence fell and Finn's eyes widened. Standing in the door way covered in cream paint was Nikki Boston, her mouth was wide open as the looked down at the paint on her clothes…

'Miss, i.. I never meant to.. it was supposed to hit Josh, im so sorry'. No one else spoke. To everyone's amazement, Nikki started to laugh. She picked up a paint brush and fired the paint back at Finn. Soon everyone was covered in paint and the work was abandoned for laughter.


	17. premonitions and pelvic floors

**AN..Yeah**

17. Premonitions and pelvic floors

She stood at the altar dressed in white, next to the man of her dreams, Tom Clarkson. He father kissed her on the cheek before taking his seat in the front row next to her mother who was wearing a large hat which had feathers coming off it in all directions so that people around her were wary of being poked in the eye whenever she moved. Her sister was stood next to her, holding her bouquet, Nikki had picked a modest baby pink dress for Rachel to wear, nothing too flashy, she did not want Rachel out shining her on her wedding day. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Josh standing behind Tom, he was beaming and in his hands he held the rings that would bind Tom and Nikki for eternity. And lastly she looked at Tom, he too was beaming he had promised himself he would 'be cool' yet she saw the tears forming in his eyes as he looked at her. She smiled back at him and brushed his hand with hers.

'Does anyone know of any lawful impediment as to why this man and this woman may not be joined in holy matrimony?'. There was silence. But the vision suddenly turned red, and a blinding pain as her family and friends disappeared before her eyes.

She awoke, gasping for air, clutching her stomach and gritting her teeth against he pain in her lower back. She knew exactly what was happening. 'god, oh god, not now, not yet, shit' she thought between breaths until the pain subsided. She put her hand out to wake Tom but stopped herself, let him sleep until she absolutely had to wake him up. He just looked so peaceful, she could imagine his panic if he woke up to her like this, so she left him in his blissful slumber. Instead she paced along the landing waiting for the next ripple of pain to overtake her body. When it came she gripped the banister and put her fist in her mouth to stop herself letting out a cry. Eventually she made her way to the bathroom and tried to find a position that would help her deal with the contractions, she settled on all fours on the bathroom rug (you know the one you step out of the bath onto) rocking back and forth, and at this critical stage there was a tiny voice in the back of her mind almost mocking her in her agony 'you should have gone to ante natal' shit.

After about half hour of deep breaths she drew herself back into a kneeling position only to feel the gush of fluid from between her legs which spread all over the bath mat and was not contained there but also spread on to the bathroom tiles as well. It scared her. This time her cry was audible, she moaned and yelled to Tom, probably waking josh and their neighbours in the process. She heard the sound of a sleepy yet panicking and Tom clumsily throw himself out of bed only half aware of what was going on.

'Nik, what's going on?, what's happening?, you alright? Nik? Oh god Nikki' he bent down to her and put a hand on her lower back, rubbing mall circles, he wasn't too sure whether it was helping or not but he carried on regardless, trying to soothe her tears in anyway possible. 'its ok love, I'm here' he said quietly into her ear.

'Tom, I think we need to go now' she whimpered.

'Ok love, I'll just go and put your stuff in the car' he was referring to Nikki's hospital bag which had been packed for weeks for this exact moment.

'ok love', he tried to speak as calmly as he could, he didn't want to worry her any more but when he left her in the bathroom and stepped out into the cold night air to bundle her things into the car he genuinely thought he might have vomited.


	18. Welcome to the world

**AN: last chapter guys, sad, sad times, but hey! Check out my new fic, 'we're always better when we're together' wooo *sobs***

18. welcome to the world

The drive to the hospital seemed to take forever, although it was only ten minutes. But with Nikki crying in the passenger seat, there was nothing Tom could do for her but drive. Now in a hospital room which had mellow lighting because of the time of night, all they could do was wait. Nikki supposed that the mellow lighting was so that she could get some rest before her baby was born but the growing intensity of her contractions and the faint yet still recognisable screams of women in a similar predicament to Nikki made sleep look so far away, thankfully for her, her pain threshold had always been relatively high and she kept thinking to herself, I she could survive 7 years in the army then she could survive this!

As the hours passed the pain became more intense, Tom watched the contraction ripple through her, her face contorted. She moaned at the contraction reached its peak then exhaled deeply as the pain subsided.

He felt so helpless just sitting there stroking her hand. He noticed Nikki's forehead was getting sticky with sweat, she had been in labour for almost 12 hours now, and was starting to get tired. He pushed her hair out of her face, it was beginning to stick to her head, he scraped it back into a makeshift ponytail (he didn't have a lot of experience in doing women's hair) to stop it bothering her. She turned to him, snaking a hand around his shoulders and stroking his chest whilst nuzzling the crook of his neck.

Her voice was an exhausted whisper when she spoke 'Tom, I don't think I can do this.'

He kissed the top of her head and tried to hold her in the best way their situation would allow, 'you are doing it love, you're doing great' he whispered reassuringly whilst rubbing Nikki's back. She moaned in response, her cry seemed to crescendo as the pain took hold.

'Well done Nik, not long now' he told her.

Midwives came in and out of the room, prodding and poking Nikki which disgruntled her further…

'Right! Are you ready Ms Boston?' the midwife as she washed her hands in the small basin in the corner of the room.

'No, ahhhh' Nikki cried

'looks like baby thinks otherwise, come on!', she knew the midwife was just trying to make her feel better but somehow she didn't appreciate it.

Tom's face paled as Nikki began to push, he watched her whole body tense and she threw her head back in agony, however he didn't dare look anywhere other than her face for fear of passing out.

'One more push Nikki, you're doing great' all the voices seemed so distant, and suddenly when the agony ceased all that mattered was hearing her baby cry. Her chest heaved in releif and she looked at Tom, searching his face for a reaction, he had tears running down his cheeks, yet he was grinning form ear to ear.

'congratulations, you've had a little girl'

This time Nikki's cry was one of ecstasy as the midwife handed her her screaming daughter, yet as soon as she was in her mother's arms, she cooed softly. To a normal person the baby must have looked disgusting, a funny purple colour still covered in whatever, but neither parent cared, Nikki kissed her daughter before looking up at Tom who was running a finger over the full head of dark hair their baby had.

'So, what's she going to be called? Mr, we're having a boy! I can just feel it!'

Tom smiled at his beautiful fiancé, her hair was wispy and fly-away and she had bags under her eyes, yet she was still the most beautiful woman Tom had ever laid eyes on 'well, I thought… I dunno, you might not like it-'

'No, go on' Nikki prompted

'How about Lucy?'

Nikki smiled back at him 'Lucy' she whispered, 'Lucy Clarkson, Tom its perfect! I love it' she was sobbing freely now, she'd always wanted to have children but she never imagined holding her very own newborn baby.

'welcome to the world Lucy Clarkson' said Tom quietly, his thoughts were interrupted by a timid knock at the door, it was Josh who had been waiting outside, upon seeing the little bundle in Nikki's arms he bounded in to the room eager to meet his new sibling,

'you've got a sister, she's called Lucy' Tom was still talking quietly as baby was now sleeping in her mother's arms.

Josh beamed 'Hi Lucy' he said softly, making his way over to the bed 'don't you look like a potato'

'Oi you! I worked hard on that!' said Nikki in mock offence.

'I was joking Nik, she's gorgeous'

Tom beckoned Josh in for a hug; he held his wife and children in his arms, the newly extended Clarkson family.

**AN: everyone loves a happy ending**


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